Der Fuehrer's Face
Der Fuehrer's Face is a 1943 animated cartoon by the Walt Disney Studios, starring Donald Duck. It was directed by Jack Kinney and released on January 1, 1943 as an anti-Nazi propaganda film for the American war effort. The film won the 1943 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and was the only Donald Duck cartoon to win an Oscar. In 1994, it was voted #22 of "the 50 Greatest Cartoons" of all time by members of the animation field. Synopsis The cartoon begins with music from Wagner's comic opera before continuing into the title song. A German oom-pah band composed of Axis leaders Emperor Hirohito on sousaphone, Göring on piccolo, Goebbels on trombone, Mussolini on bass drum and on snare drum marches through a small German town, where everything, even the clouds and trees, are shaped as swastikas, singing the virtues of the Nazi doctrine. Passing by Donald's house (the features of which depict ), they poke him out of bed with a bayonet to get ready for work. Because of wartime rationing, his breakfast consists of a piece of wood shaped like a loaf of bread, coffee brewed from a single hoarded coffee bean and an aromatic spray that tastes like bacon and eggs. The band shoves a copy of in front of him for a moment of reading, then marches into his house and escorts him to a factory, with Donald carrying the bass drum and Göring kicking him. Upon arriving at the factory (at bayonet-point), Donald starts his 48-hour daily shift screwing caps onto artillery shells in an assembly line. Mixed in with the shells are portraits of the Führer, so he must perform the Hitler salute every time a portrait appears, all the while screwing the caps onto shells, much to Donald's disgust. Each new batch of shells is of a different size, ranging from minute shells to massive shells as large as Donald if not larger. The pace of the assembly line intensifies (as in the comedy Modern Times) and Donald finds it increasingly hard to complete all the tasks. At the same time, he is bombarded with propaganda messages about the superiority of the Aryan race and the glory of working for the Fuehrer. After a "paid vacation" that consists of making swastika shapes with his body for a few seconds in front of a painted backdrop of the Alps as exercise, Donald is ordered to work overtime. He has a nervous breakdown with hallucinations of artillery shells everywhere, some of which are snakes and birds, some sing and are the same shapes as the marching band from the beginning, music and all. When the hallucinations clear, he finds himself in his bed — in the United States — and realizes the whole experience was just a nightmare. Donald embraces a miniature , thankful for his American citizenship. The short ends with a caricature of Hitler's angry face. After two sets of "Heils", a tomato is thrown at Hitler's face and forms the words "THE END". Home video releases DVD * Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines * Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume 2 Gallery Der fuehrer's face front.jpg|Sheet music cover of the song containing the original title of the short, Donald Duck in Nutzi Land. Fuhrer face 1943-1.png 1943 DISNEY.png DFF_-_title.png 001-002tooclose.jpg 35905.jpg 001-003band.jpg Oompahpah.png Oompahpah_02.png Oomphpahpah.png Stopband.png 001-004cropped.jpg DFF_-_are_we_not.png 001-005jtuba.jpg DFF_big_guy.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h20m05s451.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h21m57s989.png 001-006grouptuba.jpg 001-007mussolini.jpg Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h23m02s490.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h23m28s561.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h23m40s330.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h28m46s394.png vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h28m53s948.png 001-008alrm.jpg vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h29m20s983.png 001-008cuckoo.jpg vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h29m32s536.png Theroostersaysheilhitler.jpg vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h29m54s166.png 001-009portraiture.jpg|"Heil, Hitler!" Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h30m59s456.png|"Heil, Hirohito!" Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h33m55s846.png|"Heil, Mussolini!" Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h34m10s266.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h25m47s289.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h40m56s555.png DFF_-_Hungry_Donald.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h41m23s787.png tve19052-19430101-1183.jpg 35907.jpg 001-010caffiend.jpg Donald with breakfast aroma.jpg 35906.jpg Woodenbread.png Woodbreadnottasty.png 001-011mein.jpg 35908.jpg 001-012kickass.jpg 001-013dystopia.jpg Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h48m43s365.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h49m04s749.png 001-014whistle.jpg 35909.jpg Donald Duck - In Der Fuehrer's Face 2.jpg 35910.jpg Upsidedown_-_DFF.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h54m43s833.png Make_more_shells.png Shellbonk.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h55m44s651.png 001-015screw.jpg Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h00m03s250.png 001-016bayonetts.jpg Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h03m52s993.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h04m22s984.png 35911.jpg 001-017duckstika.jpg Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h04m39s214.png 001-018donstretch.jpg 35912.jpg 001-019disintegration.jpg DER FUERER'S FACE.png Donald losing it in nazi factory.jpg serpentmissiles.png Birdcage_bomb.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h38m08s399.png Vlcsnap-2016-01-27-14h38m18s995.png Bootstompbombs.png 001-020bombband.jpg FUHRER'S FACE.png 001-021hitlerbomb.jpg vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h13m32s951.png 001-022reversal.jpg 001-023bombface.jpg vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h15m15s486.png vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h17m20s931.png vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h15m50s819.png vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h18m41s346.png vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h18m24s235.png 001-024reveal.jpg Donaldpuzzled.jpg vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h19m57s459.png vlcsnap-2016-01-27-15h20m56s105.png 35914.jpg 001-025manygods.jpg|"Am I glad to be a citizen of the United States of America!" German vocabulary This movie also include some German words. Besides the Hitlergruß ("Sieg Heil" and "Heil Hitler") there are as following: * Heraus! (when Donald get poked out of bed) - Get out! * Schweinehund (incorrectly spoken as ''Schweinhund) - compares to ''b****** or swine * Mach schnell! - ''quick(ly)! * ''Verdammter Esel (incorrectly spoken as feminine form verdammte Esel) - compares to b****** or donkey Trivia *The original title of this short was Donald Duck in Nutzi Land. It was changed after Spike Jones' recording of the song became a huge hit. *The phrase "Heil Hitler" is spoken 33 1/2 times in this short, the 1/2 being after Donald wakes up and realizes mid-sentence that the silhouette of der Fuehrer he is saluting is actually a figurine of the Statue of Liberty. nl:Der Fuehrer's Face Category:Animated shorts Category:Donald Duck shorts Category:World War II films Category:Best Short Academy Award winners Category:1943 shorts Category:Articles containing mature content